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The Nine Best Deals on Black Friday

A shopper looks at televisions at a Best Buy store, Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, in Franklin, Tenn., after the store opened at midnight. Black Friday, the day when retailers traditionally turn a profit for the year, got a jump start this year as many stores opened just as families were finishing up Thanksgiving dinner. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, looms, and once again retailers are offering holiday deals in an attempt to get more shoppers into their stores. Several of the biggest retailers are extending their opening hours even more than in previous years to try to one-up their competition.

The deals listed by retailers are as big as ever. Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy, among others, are selling popular items at discounts of 30% or more off their regular price. Retailers plan to sell laptops, HDTVs, and other products at several hundred dollars off. Consulting with several groups that compile Black Friday deals, 24/7 Wall St. identified some of the products with the biggest markdowns.

Retailers usually offer the best deals on already established products. For example, several big box stores offer considerable rollbacks on the 50” HDTVs because they have been on the market for several years. Fatwallet.com’s Brent Shelton explained, “A couple of years ago, the bigger screens with the lighter technology were still new. But last year, prices really came down as they became less of a novel item.”

Many other products offered with significant markdowns are either being phased out and replaced with a new product type or improved versions of the same model. This is the case with laptops, for example. “With laptops, particularly the medium-level laptops, retailers discount them because people are turning to tablets as their general surf-communication device,” Shelton said. Laptops can therefore be very good deals for students who don’t care about having a tablet, he added.

Despite the many holiday deals, it's probably not the best time to buy some products. Holiday decorations and winter clothing tend to be more expensive now than any time of year because most stores have just put them in stock. There are also products that tend to have better deals during other holidays. For example, the biggest deals for tools tend to be during Father’s Day. That being said, during Black Friday you can find products at considerable markdowns in nearly every area.

Target is offering more than $60 off Beats by Dre Solo HD headphones, which it typically sells at $179.99. The headphone line, co-founded by rap legend Dr. Dre, has been extremely successful. Beats Electronics accounted for over half the market for premium headphones last year, according to Beats. Many other celebrities have tried to create their own headphone lines to imitate the success of Dr. Dre.

The Freemotion 545 elliptical is selling for a $450 discount at Sports Authority for Black Friday. Like other retailers, the sporting goods chain plans to offer savings across its product lines, including shoes, workout equipment, and apparel. Sports Authority also announced plans to hire 5,000 seasonal workers to help customers during the holidays.

Home Depot is selling Dewalt’s 20-Volt Max drill/driver for just $99, down from a previous price of $169. This represents savings of more than 40%. Unlike other retailers that get much of their business from the holiday season, Home Depot usually has its busiest season in the spring. The company even hosts a spring-time “Black Friday” event.

Walmart is selling the Xbox 360 for just $99, down from $179. However, buyers should note that Microsoft is set to offer a new console, the Xbox One, before Black Friday. Microsoft has stated, however, that it plans on continuing to provide support for the Xbox 360 until 2016.

Laptops will likely be a hot item this holiday season with several distributors offering Black Friday deals on Dell and HP computers. In addition to this Dell 15, offered at the manufacturer site at a nearly 50% discount, retailers are also offering deals on laptops. Wal-mart will offer a HP 14” touchscreen for $278.00, down by nearly 45% from its normal price.

On Thanksgiving, Target will cut the price of Sony’s WiFi Blu-ray player by nearly half, from $105.00 to $55.00. Since Blu-ray technology has become available, its popularity has risen, especially as old movies, previously unavailable in such high quality, have been enhanced.

The new Kindle Fire HD is lighter than the original model. Other upgrades include a longer battery life, a faster processor, and a sharper display. The market for 7-inch tablets is competitive, with the Nexus 7 and iPad mini both offering similar features. Staples’ Black Friday discount of more than 50% on the new Kindle Fire, however, will be difficult to beat.

With smartphone users taking pictures with their device at an increasing rate, demand for digital cameras has waned. On Black Friday this year, however, Target will tempt consumers with the Nikon L320 16-megapixel 26x optical zoom digital camera, which is capable of 720p HD movies, as well as a variety of automatic features. Target will offer the camera for less than $100, or $130 off its normal value.

Target plans to offer the Element 50-inch flat-screen TV at a more than 60% discount, which constitutes savings of nearly $400. According to Gottadeal.com, 50-inches is the new “sweet spot” for TV display size. The same TV is available at Wal-mart, which also offers a smaller-sized 40-inch Element for considerably less, $178.